Rotary-type control switch for selectively controlling a plurality of electrical circuits

ABSTRACT

A control switch for electric circuits produced in accordance with the present invention is distinguished over the prior art switches in that its stationary contact elements are secured inside the housing on two opposite walls along concentric circles so that they form pairs of contacts, whereas the movable contact elements are disposed on the surfaces of the carrier disk along the corresponding concentric circles, said disk being disposed inside the housing in such a manner that its axis of rotation passes transversely to the longitudinal axis of the switch, being the centre of said concentric circles. Thus, said movable contact elements can bridge the distance between respective pairs of stationary contact elements when said disk is turned under the action of the switching mechanism which determines the angular position of the disk.

Karger et al.

[ Jan. 14,1975

ROTARY-TYPE CONTROL SWITCH FOR SELECTIVELY CONTROLLING A PLURALITY OF ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS Inventors: Mikhail lositovich Karger, ulitsa Mikhailovgradskaya 79, kv. 78; Leonid Vasilievich Tolochko, ulitsa Dovzhenko, 62, kv. 47; Petr Vladimirovich Yaroschuk, ulitsa Tsiolkovskogo, 6, kv. 48, all of Zhitomir, U.S.S.R.

Filed: Aug. 23, 1973 Appl. No.: 390,945

' US. Cl 200/155 R, 200/5 A, 200/11 A,

. 200/153 H Int. Cl. H01h 19/10 Field of Search 200/1 R, 1 A, 5 R, 5 A, 200/11 R, 11 A, 153 P, 153 H, 155 R References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,499,127 3/1970 Cherry 200/l53 P Primary Examiner-Robert K. Schaefer Assistant ExaminerGerald P. Tolin Attorney, Agent, or FirmWaters, Roditi, Schwartz & Nissen [57] ABSTRACT A control switch for electric circuits produced in accordance with the present invention is distinguished over the prior art switches in that its stationary contact elements are secured inside the housing on two opposite walls along concentric circles so that they form pairs of contacts, whereas the movable contact elements are disposed on the surfaces of the carrier disk along the corresponding concentric circles, said disk being disposed inside the housing in such a manner that its axis of rotation passes transversely to the longitudinal axis of the switch, being the centre of said concentric circles. Thus, said movable contact elements can bridge the distance between respective pairs of stationary contact elements when said disk is turned under the action of the switching mechanism which determines the angular position of the disk.

4 Claims, 17 Drawing Figures fjio o PATENTEUJAN 1 1915 SHEET 2 or e VFATENTEBJANMIHYS 0 774 SHEET 30F 6 PIE. .5

ROTARY-TYPE CONTROL SWITCH FOR SELECTIVELY CONTROLLING A PLURALITY OF ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS The present invention relates generally to rotary type electric switches and, more particularly, to rotary type switches for controlling a plurality of electric circuits.

Known in the prior art is a rotary type electric switch (cf. US. Pat. No. 3,229,052) comprising a shaft rotatable by means of a switch handle and disposed along the longitudinal axis of said-switch, said shaft being made as a polyhedral rod mounting transversely disposed mutually insulated disks carrying movable contacts. .The stationary contacts, isolated from each other by special bushings and flanges, are arranged in two pairs on two rods, the latter being disposed along the shaft axis symmetrically to the central rod. The stationary contacts are arranged in one plane with the movable contacts so that, in switching, the contact surface thereof come into contact with greatest possible accuracy. The corresponding pairs of stationary contacts together with one movable contact and insulation bushings form one packet.

In order to ensure rapid breaking of a stationary pair of contacts by the movable contact at the moment of switching, which is necessary for rapid breaking of electric arc, the prior art switches make use of a cylindrical working spring, the latter being first tensioned by means of afixing mechanism as the switch handle is rotated and, when released, will sharply compress to actuate the disks carrying movable contacts and effect the making or breaking of respective contacts.

In the fixing mechanism of prior art switches the cylindrical working spring is cooked (wound) by means of a locking means comprising a back-up spring (cylindrical or plate type), actuating a special index pin, the latter remaining in its slot holding the movable contact part arrested until the cylindrical spring is wound through a definite angle,thereupon a special pushing means made as a cam follower pushes the index pin out of its .slot and the released cylindrical working spring turns the disk carrying'the movable contacts, thereupon under the action of the back-up spring the index pin again enters its slot.

It is rather difficult, however, to acheve accurate contact of the contacting surfaces of the movable contact part with the staionary part of such switches due to the fact that deviation from the nominal dimensions in the vertical cross-section of the movable contact with insulation, the stationary contact, the insulation bushings and flanges even within 0.05 mm gives a total of a rather great dimensional error.

Hence a disadvantage of the prior art switches is in that packet assembly is liable to cause substantial mismatch of contact surfaces which results in difficulties experienced in assembling and has a negative effect on the performance of such switches, leading to jamming of the movable contacts.

Another disadvantage of the prior art switches is in that with a large number of packages the movable contact part loses its rigidity in proportion to its length increase, which leads to an airscrew-like twist of the movable contact part at the moment of making or breaking of contacts, with the result that the making and breaking of contacts is not taking place simultaneously, the contact area of the movable and stationary contacts is decreased and their service life is reduced.

Consequently, not more than six packages are employed in the known types of switches;

Owing to the fact that movable contacts in the known switches are stacked across the shaft axis, they will alternately make or break two pairs of stationary contact packages, with the result that even in the largest versions of known switches only six pairs of contacts can be simultaneously switched on or off, inasmuch as the package design of the known switches does not permit simultaneous making or breaking of the twelve available contact pairs.

In order to increase the number of different switching circuits, the known switches incorporate more than one design versions of stationary and movable contacts, thus complicating the manufacture of said switches.

The constructional features of known switches do not permit their installed cross-section dimensions to be reduced, which results in increased overall dimensions of the articles provided with said switches.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a novel construction of a switch for controlling a plurality of electric circuits.

Another object of the present invention is to simplify the stacking of stationary and movable contacts.

Yet another object is to provide a novel arrangement of stationary and movable contacts whereby a reliable contact of contacting surfaces can be ensured.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a unified shape of stationary and movable contacts.

The above-mentioned and other objects and features of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment thereof.

The objects are achieved in that a switch for controlling a plurality of electric circuits comprises a housing, stationary contacts fixedly arranged inside said housing, at least one disk carrying movable contacts and a switching mechanism for turning the disk at a greatest possible speed, wherein, according to the invention, said stationary contacts are secured on the opposite inner walls of the housing, being arranged along concentric circles in such a manner as to form respective pairs of contacts; movable contacts secured on both faces of a carrier disk along corresponding concentric circles, said disk being provided with a tooth rim and disposed in such a manner that its axis of rotation passes transversely to the longitudinal axis of said switch and also passes through the centre of concentric circles, said disk being provided with a lug on the lateral side thereof, whereby said disk is coupled with the switching mechanism for turning said disk. Each movable contact is adapted to make and break a corresponding pair of stationary contacts, said switching mechanism comprising a toothed bushing disposed inside the housing and having a handle fitted to one end thereof, while the other end of said bushing meshes its teeth with a toothed sector of a crank lever disposed on one axis of rotation with an l-I-shaped carrier rigidly secured to the carrier disk.

In order to ensure the throwing of the movable contacts from one extreme fixed position to the other extreme fixed position, the I-I-shaped carrier of the switching mechanism is articulated to the crank lever which is adapted to mesh with the toothed bushing thus forming a system of broken links, the I-I-shaped carrier being coupled with said crank lever from both sides thereof by means of tensioned springs and movably connected to the carrier disk.

In case of another embodiment of the control switch involving one extreme fixed position of the handle, the self-resetting of movable contacts to the initial extreme fixed position is ensured in that the H-shaped carrier is rigidly coupled with said crank lever which enters into engagement with the toothed bushing, thus forming a single turning lever, said single turning lever being coupled with the carrier disk and fixed from both sides of the housing by tensioned springs, said springs being engaged by one end thereof by the lugs provided on the housing, the otherends thereof being engaged by the lugs on the crank lever.

Another element of the control switch according to the present invention is a control switch having a fixed neutral position of the handle (contacts); in this case it is expedient to ensure the self-resetting of the movable contacts into the initial neutral position in such a manner that the I-I-shaped carrier be rigidly coupled to the crank lever'entering into engagement with the toothed bushing, thus forming a single turning lever, said turning lever being spring-loaded from two sides of the housing, the springs being secured to said lugs.

The above constructional features permit a control switch performing a plurality of different switching operations to be produced.

A fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention will be had from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a spatial representation of an embodiment of the control switch according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the control switch with partially removed casing;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section of the control switch according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross section along line IV-IV in FIG. 2;

FIG. Sis view along arrow A in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is the carrier disk with the toothed rim; FIG. 7 represents the external portion of a half of the housing of the control switch;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal section of a half of the housing 'along line VIII-VIII;

FIG. 9 is a view of the internal portion ofa half of the housing; FIG. 10 is a cross section along line X-X in FIG. 9; FIG. 11 is a cross section along line XI-XI in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a cross section along line XIIXII in FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a cross section along line XIII-XIII in FIG. 7;

FIG. 14 is a cross section along line XIV-XIV in FIG. 9;

FIG. 15 is a view along arrow B in FIG. 7;

FIG. 16 is an embodiment of the control switch for ensuring self-resetting of movable contacts into the initial extreme fixed position, according to the invention;

FIG. 17 is another embodiment of the control switch for ensuring self-resetting of the movable contacts into the initial neutral position from two extreme positions.

The control switch for electric circuits represented in FIG. 1 comprises a housing 1 of substantially rectangular form. The housing is made detachable, comprising 2 and 3 is disposed in the upper portion of the housing 3 1. The housing 1 is closed with a casing 8 mounting plug connectors 9. A more detailedrepresentation of the control switch is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

Both halves of the housing 1 are joined together in their middle portion by screws 10. The same screws 10 also serve as the axis of rotation for two carrier disks 4 and 5. Thus the axis of rotation of the disks is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the housing. The movable contacts 3 are secured on each carrier disk 4 and 5 along concentric circles, the centre thereof being the axis of rotation of the disks 4 and 5.

Each half of the housing 1 mounts stationary contacts 2 disposed on the inner walls thereof, along concentric circles corresponding to the respective concentric circles of carrier disks.

In the present embodiment of the control switch, each carrier disk mounts 24 movable contacts 3, whereas a corresponding number of pairs of stationary contacts 2 are disposed on the walls of the housing.

To the stationary contacts are soldered conductors 11, which are disposed in recesses made in both halves of the housing 1 externally thereof, passed through the end face of housing 1, marked and connected to the plug connector 9.

The control switch is provided with a switching mechanism 6 for achieving the highest possible speed in turning the disk.

The switching mechanism comprises a toothed bushing 12, secured with the help of a support ring 13 in the housing 1 of the control switch.

To one end of the toothed bushing 12 is fitted a handle 7, while from the other end the bushing 12 meshes with its teeth with the toothed sector 14 which is a part of the crank lever 15. A fulcrum pin 16 is the axis of rotation for the crank lever 15 and an H-shaped carrier 17 which is fitted by means of its ears onto the fulcrum pin 16 and connected with the carrier disk 4 by means of pin 18.

The crank lever 15 is provided with lugs 19 for hooking the hooks of cylindrical springs 20 disposed on both sides of housing I.'

The hook on the other end of the springs 20 is fitted on the grooved end of pin 18.

Thus the crank lever 15 and the H-shaped carrier, being coupled from both sides by tensioned springs, form a system of broken links.

Both halves of the housing 1 are joined in the upper portion thereof by two screws 21. Screws 22 serve for attaching a plastic flange 23 to the housing 1, which flange is used for securing the control switch on the control desk or panel'(not shown in the Figure). A signal lamp 24 is disposed inside the toothed bushing 12, which lamp is supplied with current via conductors 25 and a current collector 26. The upper portion of handle 7 is provided with an eye 27, made of a transparent material, for example plexiglass.

FIG. 6 illustrates the carrier disk. The disk 4 is preferably made of a resilient plastic material, for example polyamide resin. The disk 4 is provided with a central hole and rectangular through openings 28 made concentrically the central hole and intended for disposing therein press-fitted movable contacts 3 (not shown in the Figure).

The lateral side of the carrier disk 4 is provided with a lug having an elongated through hole 29. The hole 29 accommodates the pin 18 of the I-I-shaped carrier 17, thus coupling the disk with the switching mechanism 6.

The other lateral side of the disk 4 is provided with a toothed rim 30 to engage the carrier disk 5.

The number of disks is selected proceeding from the required number of contact connections.

The housing of the control switch is shown in greater detail in FIGS. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15.

The housing 1 is manufactured of a shock-proof plastic by casting.

As already mentioned hereinabove, the housing comprises two similarhalvesdoinedby boltsLnot shown in the Figure). The bolts are accommodated in round through holes 3l pro'vided in each half of the housing. The holes 31 are at the same time the centre of concentric circles with rectangular through openings 32 made along the perimeter thereof.

. Stationary contacts (not shown in the Figure) are pressfitted into these openings 32 when assembling the control switch.

Item 33 shows the dimension window within which the lug of the carrier disk (not shown in the Figure) is free to move.

Lugs 34 on both havles of the housing 1 serve for fitting thereon the cylindrical springs (not shown in the Figure). The upper portion of the housing 1 is provided with a round opening 35 for receiving the toothed bushing. A circular groove 36 serves for mounting a thrust ring (not shown in the Figure).

Slots 37 are disposed symmetrically along the longitudinal axis of the housing for receiving the current collectors of the signal lamp.

Both halves of the housing have a protrusion 38 and a recess 39 at the base thereof, said protrusion and recess being intended for securing the housing when assembling. An opening 40 serves for receiving the fulcrum pin of the crank lever and the H-shaped carrier.

The control switch with two extreme fixed positions of the handle described above operates as follows. As the handle 7 is turned, it causes the toothed bushing 12 to turn, the latter turning by means of its toothing the toothed sector 14 together with the crank lever 15 around the fulcrum pin 16. As it does so, the cylindrical springs 20 are tensioned until the I-I-shaped carrier 17 and pin 18 are instantaneously thrown into a position opposite to the initial position, the lever 7 assuming at this moment the second extreme fixed position.

Under the action of pin 18 the carrier disk 4 will abruptly turn, simultaneously abruptly turning by means of its toothing the carrier disk 5 in the opposite direction, by virtue of it being meshed therewith. In so doing, the movable contacts 3 will either make or break the pairs of stationary contacts 2.

The above construction will ensure the switching of 48 electrical circuits in different on/off combinations, the total number thereof exceeding two hundred. This is achieved by rearranging the movable contacts 3 in the rectangular openings 28 on the carrier disks 4 and 5, as well as by means of the toothing of carrier disks 4 and 5, by displacing the teeth of the carrier disk 5 through a certain number of teeth relative to the carrier disk 4.

In accordance with one embodiment of the control switch of the present invention, the latter has one initial extreme fixed position, the self-resetting of the movable contacts into said fixed position being ensured thereby.

This construction is effected by a slight modification of the above-described construction shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The construction of a control switch having two extreme fixed position of the movable contacts and the handle is shown in FIG. 16.

This reconstruction is effected by removing the hooks of the springs 20 off the groove on the pin 18 and fitting the hooks on the lugs 34 of the housing from the rightand left-hand sides thereof. The free openings on the toothed sector of lever 15 are aligned by means of handle 7 with the central openings on the l-I-shaped carrier 17, the openings further receiving the pin 41 which is fixed in position by means of split washers. Thus the crank lever and the H-shaped carrier become a rigid lever, fixing under the action of springs 20 the switching lever, fixing under the action of springs 20 the switching mechanism in one of the extreme positrons.

The above-described control switch operates as follows: when the handle 7 is turned to the right, the bushing 12 will turn and, in its turn, cause the toothing thereof to turn the toothed sector 14 of the crank lever 15 and the H-shaped carrier 17 around the fulcrum pin 16, causing simultaneously the two springs 20 to be tensioned. Under the action of pin 18 the carrier disk 4 and also the carrier disk 5, (the latter via the toothed rim) are turned and make (or break) the stationary contacts 2 by their movable contacts 3. The angle through which the carrier disks are adapted to turn is limited by the dimensions of the window 33, wherein the lug on the carrier disk 4 is adapted to move.

Once the handle 7 is released, the whole system,

under the action of tensioned cylindrical springs 20,

'will quickly assume its initial position, thus instantaneously making or breaking the stationary contacts.

FIG. 17 illustrates yet another embodiment of a control switch according to the present invention, wherein the latter has a neutral (middle) position of the movable contacts and correspondingly a neutral position of the handle. The construction of the present control switch is similar to that illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, with the exception of slight modifications. The neutral (middle) positionof the handle is acheved through the following modifications in the switching mechanism. The pins 18 and 41 are respectively interchanged. Instead of the cylindrical springs 20, two cylindrical tensioned springs 42 are fitted with their hooks onto the groove an pin 18 and the lugs 34 on the both sides of the housing. Thus, under the action of cylindrical springs 42 and through the medium of the rigid lever, the switching mechanism assumes its neutral (middle) position.

The above-described control switch operates as follows. The handle 7 being turned to the right causes the toothed bushing 12 to turn and by means of the toothing it will turn the toothed sector 14 of the crank lever 15 and the H-shaped carrier 17 with pins 18 and 41 around the fulcrum pin 16. This will cause the two springs 42 to tension and the two opposite springs to compress.

Under the action of pin 41 the carrier disk and through the toothing thereof the carrier disk will turn and close or open stationary contacts 3 by its movable contacts 2. The angle through which the carrier disks can be displaced is also governed by the dimension window 33 wherein the lug of the carrier disk is adapted to move. Once the handle 7 isreleased, the whole system, under the action of springs 42, will quidkly assume its initial neutral position, thus instantaneously making or breaking the stationary contacts.

A turn of thehandle 7 to the left will cause a process similar to the one just described.

From the above description it follows that the present invention provides a control switch which can be manufactured of standard parts for each of the switching stages. Moreover, due to the employment of external connections to the plug connectors the mounting and performance of the control switch is greatly improved and the field of application is substantially increased.

The component parts of the control switch can be economically manufactured, while the switching operations are easily effected with the switch handle having small dimensions. The design features of the control switch permit its easy assemble on a conveyor line. The service life of the control switch is three times longer than that of the prior art control switches.

The constructional features of the present control switch permit its mounting directly into the cellof a mosaic panel with a module of without using any additional devices, in accordance with the known requirements. By the number of electric circuits it can switch, the present control switch can replace at least two prior art control switches.

While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art and therefore it is not intended that the invention be limited to the disclosed embodiments or to the details thereof circles so that said movable contact elements bridge the distance between each pair of stationary contact elements when said disk is turned, and a switching mechanism, determining the angular positions of said disk, which mechanism includes a toothed bushing, the

toothed end of said bushing meshing with the toothed sector of a crank lever having one axis or rotation with an H-shaped carrier, said lug operatively connecting said H-shaped carrier and said carrier disk having said lug thereon.

2.A control switch as claimed in claim 1, wherein for the purpose of ensuring the throwing of movable contacts from one extreme fixed position into the other extreme fixed position, the H-shaped carrier is articulated with the crank lever, said crank lever meshing with the toothed bushing, thus forming a system of broken links, said H-shaped carrier being coupled with the crank lever by means of tensioned springs disposed on both sides of the housing and movably connected to the carrier disk.

3. A control switch as claimed in claim 1 wherein for the purpose of ensuring the self-resetting of movable contacts into the initial extreme fixed position, the H- shaped carrier is rigidly connected to the crank lever, which lever meshing with the toothed bushing to form a single turning lever, the latter being movably connected to the carrier disk and secured by tensioned springs disposed on both sides of the housing, being fitted on the lugs provided on the housing and on the lugs on the crank lever.

4. A control switch as claimed in claim 1, wherein for the purpose of ensuring the self-resetting of the movable contacts into the initial neutral position from two extreme positions, the l-l-shaped carrier is rigidly connected to the crank lever, which lever meshing with the toothed bushing to form a single turning lever, said single turning lever being movably connected to the carrier disk and spring-loaded from two sides of the housing by springs fitted onto said lugs. 1 

1. A control switch for controlling electric circuits comprising a combination of a housing; stationary contact elements secured to the opposite walls of the housing and arranged in concentric circles along a longitudinal axis of the switch to form pairs of stationary contacts inside said housing; at least one carrier disk having a lug on the side thereof and a toothed rim on the side opposite said lug, said toothed rim being adapted to mesh said disk with another disk; movable contact elements secured on said disk in such a manner that the contact parts of said contact elements are disposed on both surfaces of said carrier disk along respective concentric circles; said carrier disk disposed in such a manner that its axis of rotation passes transversely to the longitudinal axis of the switch and simultaneously passes through the centre of said concentric circles so that said movable contact elements bridge the distance between each pair of stationary contact elements when said disk is turned, and a switching mechanism, determining the angular positions of said disk, which mechanism includes a toothed bushing, the toothed end of said bushing meshing with the toothed sector of a crank lever having one axis or rotation with an H-shaped carrier, said lug operatively connecting said H-shaped carrier and said carrier disk having said lug thereon.
 2. A control switch as claimed in claim 1, wherein for the purpose of ensuring the throwing of movable contacts from one extreme fixed position into the other extreme fixed position, the H-shaped carrier is articulated with the crank lever, said crank lever meshing with the toothed bushing, thus forming a system of broken links, said H-shaped carrier being coupled with the crank lever by means of tensioned springs disposed on both sides of the housing and movably connected to the carrier disk.
 3. A control switch as claimed in claim 1 wherein for the purpose of ensuring the self-resetting of movable contacts into the initial extreme fixed position, the H-shaped carrier is rigidly connected to the crank lever, which lever meshing with the toothed bushing to form a single turning lever, the latter being movably connected to the carrier disk and secured by tensioned springs disposed on both sides of the housing, being fitted on the lugs provided on the housing and on the lugs on the crank lever.
 4. A control switch as claimed in claim 1, wherein for the purpose of ensuring the self-resetting of the movable contacts into the initial neutral position from two extreme positions, the H-shaped carrier is rigidly connected to the crank lever, which lever meshing with the toothed bushing to form a single turning lever, said single turning lever being movably connected to the carrier disk and spring-loaded from two sides of the housing by springs fitted onto said lugs. 